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Last Updated on October 14, 2022 by Editor Futurescope
Are you aware that most people use .txt files for sending and receiving messages? The .txt files are among the simplest files to use and share. However, are they safe? Can .txt files be dangerous to your device?
The .txt files may contain viruses, malware, and malicious code. .txt files can be used as destructive codes causing problems to your PC. A .txt file behaves like a trojan horse as you may consider it safe, yet you don’t know what it has in store for you.
Are you wondering how to keep your device safe from threats that might be hiding in .txt files? Keep reading this article to keep yourself safe from malware.
Can a .txt file contain malware?
The Internet Crime Complaint Center gave reports that some email messages may cause impersonation in an attempt to set up malware. Unknown attackers attach a text document to download, complete and return to the perpetrators.
It’s not supposed to be possible to run malware by simply opening a .txt file. The file should simply open in the text editor with no execution code. A double-extension trick is what is being used by attackers.
Microsoft chose file extensions to be hidden by default despite knowing it was a huge security flaw, and Apple did the same. With the text file hidden, a file highlighted as evil.txt.exe can appear as evil.txt. Upon seeing, the .txt, many people may assume the file is safe, yet it can run a malicious code (executable).
How can I check a .txt file for malware?
To ensure everything is fine, the first thing to look into is that your antivirus solution scans the .txt file and doesn’t ignore them.
The next step is patching the media players you use. Text files can’t cause malware, but malware can hide to seem as .txt files. If you open the file in the notepad and see regular text, then it’s okay.
Uploading the file to Virustotal is one of the methods to know if it contains malware. This test isn’t 100% certain that malware isn’t available. There may be strains of malware attached to the file that you can’t find.
The ideal decision you can make is to be cautious about where you are downloading files and ensure they are from a legal source. Legal sources have less chance of containing malware.
Can malware hide in a .txt file?
No file is 100% safe because if a vulnerability appears in the file, exploitation is by a specially made file. This exploitation has occurred in .pdf.
You may have malware hidden as a different file. The malware appeared on a notepad icon and was called “README. TXT. exe.” Windows hide files by default, causing the owner to risk contracting malware.
Therefore, you need to ensure that the file is scanned before opening to minimize the risk of having executables.
Can malware be saved as a .txt document?
Yes, it can. Changing a file extension or using double extensions is only possible when one file opens.
Another bad thing is that Windows default settings hide such extensions for trusted files like .txt. Therefore, if you purchase a new PC, enable the settings to scan all files.
If you receive a malicious code, the attacker wants to make it seem like a .txt file. The attacker has to change its extension so that when clicking the file happens, the malware begins.
Nowadays, that’s a common trick, and it can’t work for a person who isn’t knowledgeable about the running of computers. When you save malware as a file like a .txt file, it gives you the chance to hide duplicates under layers. You may hide the files as other data streams on Windows or even create your own IO streams with creative formats.
These different hiding methods allow the hacker to shift stream values as a bitwise operator and construct complex codes. The complex files may run from the simplest things, such as images.
When you right-click suspicious files and open them under the text editor, the header displays, and the file type becomes clear to you about what it is.
What is a double file extension?
Some people taint the double extension as something bad and say it’s a means of hiding malware. A file type includes a secondary file type extension that may cause a display of the first extension. However, the second extension is the actual file that shows how it’s opened and executed.
The operating system may hide the actual file extension in the browser’s file and any software using the same system’s policies.
Attackers use double extension files to try and conceal malware of payloads. A user is tricked by opening what they consider a benign file type, but it’s an executable code.
Those files look like email attachments and allow an attacker to get Initial Access into your system through Spearphishing Attachments and then User Execution. The user may then consider such a file as safe, open it, and thus cause execution of the hidden malware.
Conclusion
You now need to understand that extensions can be misleading since they can be malware without you knowing. Therefore you need to be keen with each file you use, as any of them may run malware on your PC causing significant information leakage. Consider using Antivirus on your PC to detect any malicious code that may be present to avoid attacks. Share this article with others to know how malware spreads and how you can try and prevent it.
